Toy airplane



F. A. cHRls'rlANsEN 2,067,828-

T oY AIRPLANE i Filed Feb. 10,.'1956 5 sheets-sheet 1 om NH Jam-12, 1937.V

l l I b D l l l l l l l Jan. 12, 1937. F. A. CHRISTMNSEN 2,0675828 *I 'TOY AIRPLANE A Filed Feb. 1,0, 195e s sheets-Sneep :e`

a Zz 1 E5 l g l? n l www4/1,1

Jan. 12, 1937. F. A. cHmsTlANsl-:N 2,057,828

` IfoY AIRPLANE Filed Feb. 10, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Jen. i2, 193'/`v "UNIT-Eo STATES PATENT OFFICE 'roy amPLANE Lrreaerieii A. Christiansen, Les Angeles, oeuf., u-

signor to W. H. Hammer and L. Rhodes, Los

Angeles, Calif.

Application February 1o, 193e, serial No. 63,244

11 claims.' (c1. 27H1) The present invention relates to improvements of the apparatus shown and described in my copending application entitled Toyairplane, Serial No. 48,151, illed November 4, 1935.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved and simplified mechanism which lnmechanism including the clutch drive, such `that this mechanismwill be simplified and not as liable to require repairs.

Still another object is to provide a motor driving means for the plane located at the top of n the column, and supported by the cap which surmounts the column.

A further object of the invention is to provide a control resembling the joy stick, or control stick of an airplane, whereby the speed of the airplane is regulated, as well as other movements of the plane, such as the looping, elevation, and the inclination of the plane both dur' ing take-off and the landing, may be controlled in much the same manner as in a full sized commercial or privately owned plane.

Another object is to provide a means operating to prevent buckling of the spring which drives the outside tube.

An additional object of the invention is to pro-.

vide improved counter-balancing mechanism for the plane while in flightand particularly during the take-'off and landing operations.

Another object is to improve -the counter-balancing mechanism of the plane and its support-.

ing means. i

The present application further includes improvements in the construction of the plane itself in order tolprovide for the use of a number of diierenttypes of planes, and to allow these planes to be quickly mounted upon and detached from the supporting rod or tube which encloses the drive. for the propeller without removal of the propeller from its driving shaft.

Other objects and advantages will appear hereinafter throughout the specification. y i In the drawingszl Figure 1 is a .perspective view showing the entire assembly, the plane being shown in full lines at one elevation and in dotted lines at another elevation;

Figure 2 is a vertical section through approximately the center of the pylon, with certain parts shown in full lines;

Figure 3 is a. reduced vertical section taken at right angles from that of Figure2;

Figure 4 is a plan view4 of the ilexible drive, showing the counter-balancing mechanism;

Figure 5 is a horizontal section taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a longitudinal vertical section of a typical airplane, forming a. part of the present invention;

Figure 7 is a vertical section taken on the line 1 1 of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a view of the control mechanis with one of the parts in full lines, and the re- 'mainder of them shown in vertical section;

Figure 9 is a detail view partly in vertical section, of the base od the pylon showing the control lead-dns; A

Figure 10 is a side elevation of the control wires and the runway plate, taken on the line lil-I0 of Figure l;

Figure 11 is a transverse section of the parts indicated in Figure 10, and

Figure 12 is a detail showing the construction of the inner driving wire which drives the propeller of the plane from power furnished by the motor.

While the invention disclosed in my prior application above noted is quite suitable for most j purposes as a toy, it has been found that some of the mechanism disclosed in said application is apt to show wear after a considerable amount .of hard usage, such as is usually given toys of this character by children, and the improvements described and claimed herein-are directed to a toy which will withstand practically any amount of hard usage without requiring repair or replacement of the parts of the mechanism or its controls.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral I yindicates a pylon or -column which may house the motor and many of the parts,vincluding the power take-oil mechanism, clutch parts, etc. The numeral 2 indicates a cap mounted on the top of the column, preferably square in outline, and having along two of its bottom sides, rails 3 which flt 'closely adjacent two of the square sides of the pylori to prevent rotation of the cap during the time the airplane is describing a circular course about the pylon. The rails 3y areattached to the base 4 of the cap, which base supportsLfor 4the purpose of convenient removal, the electric motor and many of the parts driven thereby. Supported by the under side of the baseA Il by means of bolts or screws 4a', is a framework 5 to which is attached an shaft 9 may be similar in construction to the shaft l2 shown in Figure -12. Said wire shaft il drives the propeller l0 by means of a coiled electric motor 6 having a shaft 1, which drives a worm, and a flexible wire shaft 9. vThe spring drive if which is connected to drive the wire shaft I2 that is directly connected to the airplane propeller, as indicated in Figure 6 of the drawings. lSurrounding these shafts and spring drive, are thetubes I3 and I4, respectively, and the coil spring drive I5.` Y

As will be noted from an inspection of Figure l, the tube.I4 is straight for the greater part of its length, but performs a curve as it approaches the airplane I6, and enters the plane at about the longitudinal center thereof. The bottom portion as shown, or the side portion of the plane. is open so that the plane may be quickly mounted upon or removed from the end of the tube I4. Preferably, the propeller is unconnected directly with the plane. While it is the purpose of this invention-to provide an airplane which may be quickly removed and another plane substituted therefor,v the propeller preferably is intended to remain in fixed position on the end of the wire drive I2, and the plane may be removed from its mounting l without necessitating the removal of the propeller, as was necessary by the construction shown in my prior application.

Fixedly mounted on the tube I4 are a plurality of spaced collars I1. Mounted within the fuselage of the plane are a plurality of spring clips I9 so spaced as to grasp or clutch the tube I4 on the outside of each column, although of course it will be appreciated that the same enect would be obtained by having these clips so mounted as to grasp the tube inside of said 'collars I1. The clips are soplaced as to mount the plane below the center of gravity of the supporting rod I4. 'Ihe plane is provided with struts I9 which support ground-engaging wheels 29 and a tail 2l. There may be also a spring support 22 for the rear of the plane, as'

shown in Figure 6.

Referring to the worm 8, itwill be noted that said worm is in meshed relation with the worm wheel 23 mounted on the shaft 24. This shaft drives stub axles 25 and 26 by means of universal connections 21 and 29. such as ball and sockel; universal joints. Mounted on the ends of the stub axles 25 and 29 are drive wheels 29 and 30, either one of which may be brought into engagement with the drive disk 3l which is keyed to the tube I3. The drive wheels preferably are provided withrubber driving rim portions or tires. long as the motor 3 is running the two wheels 29 and 39 are also being driven by the power take-ou represented by the worm drive axle 24 and the stub axles 25 and 26. At the will of the operator, however, eitherv one of these wheels may be brought into engagement, by mechanismhereinatter to be described, with the driving disk 3|, and it will be noted that upon engagement of the drive wheel 29, said disk will be driven in one direction, and vupon engagement with the driving wheel 30, said disk will be driven in the opposite direction. The disk drives the tube I3, and through the coil spring drive Il, the tube I4, upon which the airplane is mounted.y It will be noted, therefore, that the airplane may be rotated in either direction upon a transverse axis by engagement of either of the drive wheels. or 30, according to which is brought into en' gagement with the disk 3I. Moreover. the tube I4 acts at all times as a bearing to allow the'A plane to automatically bank when the plane reaches a certain speed.

The numeral 32, indicates a U-shaped krockable frame, the ends of which are provided with holes for supporting the wheels 29 and 30, and one end of the stub axles 29 and 29.A The frame 32 is pivotally mounted at about its center on frame 5 by means of pivot 33. This U frame and the wheels are moved by a control means so that oneor the other of the wheels engage the driving disk, by means of a link 34, which is pivotally attached to the U frame at 35, and which may be moved upwardly or downwardly to cause either of said wheels to make contact with the disk 3|.

The frame 5 has a horizontal portion having holes through which the bolts 4a extend. This horizontal portion has attached thereto, or preierably has integral therewith. a stationary sleeve 33, which forms a bearing for a supporting member 31, having upper and lower contacting and bearing portions 33 and 39. This member 31, as well -as the outer decorative sleeve 40 seat in a rotary cup-shaped member 4I, which is supported by the base 4, and which rotates rupon the stationary sleeve 36. Said bearing member 31 -is provided with a journal bearing 42 in which is pivotally mounted one end 43 oiv a curved supporting arm 44, whose other end is rigidly attached to a sleeve 45, which slides freely on the tube I4 as the tube is raised or lowered, according to the altitude of the plane. Rigidly mounted on the supporting member 31 is an arm 49 having a plurality of holes 41, in any one of which one end of the spring 4l may be inserted for purposes of adjustment. The 'opposite end of the spring is connected to the sleeve 4I at the point 49. The outer sleeve 49 is provided with a notched end 50 so as to allow the coil spring drive Il and parts 31 and arm 44, to ,move up and down without hindrance. This is facilitated by the fact that the bearings 39 and 39 slide on the rod I3, aswell as the cup-shaped member 4I.

The lowerlend of the link 34 isconnected to a bell crank lever 6I which is connected to one end of a push-wire 52, whose opposite end is plvotally connected at 53 to the joy stick 54.'

Said Joy stick is pivoted at '55 -to a hase 56. As

will be noted from an inspection of 'Figure 8,

the joy stick is maintained ordinarily in a vertical-position by means of a pair of springs 51 which are so attached as to exert tension in opposite directions. Thev interior of the joy stick is preferably made hollow,v and contains a coil 59 similarly acting asV a rheostat. Al movable plunger member 59 may be `actuated by the thumb 'so as to force the same downwardly against the tension of a spring lill,l which ordinarily maintains the plunger 59 in the position as shown in Figure 8. When the plunger is forced downwardly, however, the coils of the rheostat are shorted, whereby to increase the speed of the motor. and through the motor drive,

the R. P. M. of the propeller, which moves the e plane around the pylon,fthereby increasing the speed of the plane as it travels around thepylon. 'Ihe lead-in wires from a suitable plug, not

vshown, are indicated by the numeral si, which 2,oo7,sas

face to vrun over the runway plate and not bev stoppedby the cable.

With the parts in the position indicatedl in` Figure 1, a suitable switch, not shown, is actuated to complete the circuit, thus establishing tioned, the two drive wheels 29 and 30, but these wheels will not drive the disk 3| with the joy Ystick in the vertical position, asshown in Figure 8. The motor shaft additionally drives the ilexiible wire shaft 9, and through the spring drive II and wire shaft I2 the propeller III is driven. By means of the tube I3. coil spring drive I5, and tube I4, the plane is caused to turn on a substantially transverse horizontal axis when either of the wheels 29 or 30 have been moved into vengagement with the driving disk 3l, and this being accomplished by movement of the joy stick which actuates the link 34 to rock the vU frame 32 which supports the wheels 29 and 30, so that either of them may, at the will of the operator. drive the disk 3l.

The operation is -as follows: Assuming the plane is on the ground as indicated in dottedl lines at Figure 1, and that current is flowing to the motor 6, the planestarts to travel over the surface upon which it rests about the center point defined by the pylon i. As the speed of the plane is increased, by means of the shorting of the coils of the rheostat. the stick 54 is moved about the pivot 55 so as to cause one of the wheels 29 or 30 lto engage the disk 3i in such manner as to result in the slight counterclockwise rotation of the plane about its horizontal axis. The ioy stick is brought to its neutrai or vertical position when the nose of the plane is headed slightly upwardly. After the plane has reached suilicient speed it will then leave the ground and rise from its supporting surface and fly around the pylon, its altitude depending uponthe R. P. M. ofthe propeller, and the point at which it is leveled oi by bringing the joy stick to its neutral position. The

plane may now be put through its paces byv actuation. of the stick 54 to cause looping or spiralling and practically any other one of thel other stunts, which a'. real plane may be put through. At any tima" the plane may be caused to land by decreasing its speed and nosing down, by operating the stick in the opposite direction from that which caused the plane to head upwardly or seek altitude, all of winch operations may be controlled through the stick 54, in a manner quite similar tothe method now employed in controlling a full sized commercial or privately owned plane. It will be seen that the ventire construction of the plane and its operating mechanism is rugged and substantially foolproof in operation. There are no parts which are liable to require repair even after long use,

and the control means is accurate in its opera` tion so as to faithfully simulate the actual flying of a real plane, whilst taking on', landing, cruising, or when stunting. The drive'spring I5 and the inner drive spring ii are prevented from buckling by the curved arm 44Y which follows-closely the general curvatureV of said'springs, and thus prevents .them from moving toofar to that side on which the arm is located. The arm 44 is prevented from moving too far upwardly by the engagement of the curved portion of the arm, adjacent the bearing 42, with a stop 85 affixed to the upper side of the supporting member 31. The plane supporting tube and the` plane cannoirtherefore move in such a position that the rod I4 approaches a vertical position as the stop 65- prevents upward movement of the rod and plane at a point preferably slightly beyond that shown in Figure 1.

The counter-balancing means including the parts 31, 42, 43, 45, 46, 41 and 48,118 will beA [are always preferably placed so that the center of gravity is below theitube I4. It will be further noted that the straight portion of the tube is at or nearly at the longitudinal center of the plane and behind the airfoil of the plane to insure stability and balance to the plane.

The braided drive wire I2, as shown by Figure 12, adds life to the propeller drive. The wire drive 9 which is attached to the motor shaft, is preferably also made of braided wire.

-The foregoing description and the drawings are understood to be for illustrative purposes only, the drawings and specification herewith being used for illustrative purposes only, and it is further understood that the invention is capable of various modifications. I` desire to be limited therefore in the practice of my invention only to the extent as defined by the appended claims.

What I claim isz- 1. A toy airplane apparatus comprising a -toy plane and propeller, means for supporting and guiding the ,plane around` a center, means for driving said plane by 'said propeller including a motor, and manually controlled means including a plurality of drive wheels anda drive disk for turning the plane about its supporting means so asr to permit diiferent'angles of flight and maneuvers, said manually controlled means including additional means for selectively engaging or disengaging any one of said drive wheels with said drive disk.

2. A toy airplane apparatus comprising a toy plane and a propeller, means for supporting and guiding the plane around a center, means for driving said plane including a motor, and manually controlled means for turning the plane about'its supporting means so as to permit different angles of flight and maneuvers, said manually controlled means including; a power drive means driven from said plane driving mea/ns, a U frame, wheels mounted in said U frame, stub axles for mounting said wheels, said axles having ing from the motor to the propeller of the toy airplane, a hollow supporting tube enclosing the nexible drive means and supporting the toy airplane from said standard, and manually controlled means for turning said tube for varying the anglerof night of said plane.

4. A toy airplane apparatus comprising a toy planeand a propeller, a standard, a nexible drive shaft extending from said standard to the propeller of the toy airplane, a hollow supporting tube enclosing the nexible drive and supporting the toy airplane from said standard, a motor for driving said flexiblel drive shaft and manually controlled means forcausing said motor to rotate said tube for varying the angle of night of said plane, said last named means including a driving disk rigidly attached to said tube, and a pair of continuously driven wheels, one being adapted to drive said disk in one direction and the other being adapted to drive said disk in the opposite direction and manual control means for moving either of said wheels into driving engagement with said disk whereby said plane may be turned in opposite directions.

5. A toy airplane apparatus comprising a plane having a propeller, a tubular plane supporting means, a nexible drive shaft extending through said means'and connected to the propeller, motor means for turning said tube means in either direction to vary the angle of flight of fsaid plane when mounted on said plane supporting means, clutch means for connecting said motor means to said tube means and a joy stick for actuating said clutch means, said stick having biasing means for holding the same in a neutral position whereby said clutch'means is normally held in its unclutched position, to `thereby allow said plane to maintain an adjusted position of'night.

6. A toy airplane apparatus comprising a plane having a propeller, a 'tubular plane supporting means, a plane` adapted to be supported thereon, a nexible drive' shaft extending through said means and connected to the propeller, motor means for turningy said tube means in either direction to vary thevangle of night, clutch means for connecting 'the motor means to the tube means and for rotating said tube in either direction, and-a Joy stick having means for normally maintaining said clutch in inoperative position, a rheostat in said joy stick for controlling the speed of said motor means and propeller, pivotal mounting means for said stick whereby said stick may be moved in either direction to operate said clutch'to rotate said tube in either direction whereby to cause rotation of said plane in either direction about va substantially horizon- 7. A toy airplane apparatus having a tubular plane supporting means, Ia plane adapted to be supported thereon, ajstandard for supporting said tubular plane lsupporting means, a nexible drive shaft within said tubular supporting means. a propeller driven by said flexible drive shaft, motor means for drivingsaid nexible drive shaft l and propeller, manually controlled means for rotating said tubular plane supporting means including a plurality of drive wheels continuously driven by said motor means, and means mounted on said tubular plane supporting means adapted to be driven by either of said drive wheels.

8. A toy airplane apparatus comprising a toy plane and propeller, a standard, a nexible drive shaft from said standard to the propeller of the toy airplane, a hollow supporting tube means enclosing the lflexible drive and supporting the toy airplane from said standard, `a motor for driving 1 said nexible drive shaft andron-l turning said hollow supporting tube means, a cap non-rotatably mounted on said standard, a stationary sleeve extending through said cap. and a counter-balancing means for said toy plane turnably mounted on said sleeve and having sliding movement thereon, and rotatable means supported by said cap member, whereby said plane may rotate about said stationary sleeve as an axis to cause said plane to assume various angles of night and maneuvers.

9. A toy airplane apparatus comprising a toy plane and propeller, a-standard, a nexible drive shaft extending from the standard to the propeller, a hollow supporting tube enclosing the nexible drive means and supporting the toy plane from said standard, motor means for driving said nexible drive means, manually controlled means for rotating the plane on its transverse axis consisting of means for turning said tube comprising a driven means at one end thereof, a pivoted frame, two drive wheels supported bysaid frame, and drive means extending from said motor means to said drive wheels for continuously driving said wheels, said driven means being adapted to be engaged by either of said drive wheels or neitherof them.

10. A toy airplane apparatus comprising a toy plane having a slot therein, a propeller. a tubular plane supporting member having one of its ends extending longitudinally of the plane when posiltioned thereon through said slot, a nexible drive shaft extending through said member and connected to the propeller, motor means for driving member in either direction to vary theangle of night of the plane, attaching means for removably mounting said plane ron said member', said member acting as a bearing for saidv plane attaching means during night -to thus permit the said nexible shaft and for turning said tubular Y :sol

plane to pivot 'about its longitudinal axis, and

manually l; actuated means for connecting the motor means to said member and for disconnecting said motor means from said member.

1l. A toy airplane apparatus comprising a toy plane having a slot therein, a propeller, a tubular plane supporting member having one'of its ends said plane on said tubular supporting member,l

and permit a limited turning movement on the longitudinal axis of said plane thereon.

FREDERICK A. CHRISTIANSEN. 

